Any discussion of the prior art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such prior art is widely known or forms part of the common general knowledge in the field.
Certain regions such as mining environments, including open-cut mines, are extremely hazardous for those operating equipment within such regions. Open-cut mines include narrow and long winding roadways for the transportation of equipment and mined material. These roadways generally do not include guard rails and have a steep drop-off or cliff-like face on one side.
These roadways are commonly unsealed such that the movement of vehicles such as haul trucks along these roadways produce large dust clouds which significantly reduce the visibility of operators of these trucks and other personnel in that region, particularly those following or approaching another vehicle.
In addition, the geographical location of many mines means they are subject to severe weather conditions including heavy rainfalls, thick fogs and smoke which again reduces the visibility in the region. Furthermore, it is common for work to take place in the darkness of night. Consequently, this reduced visibility commonly leads to accidents many of which result in serious injuries or, in the worst cases, death. Another factor contributing to accidents in mining environments is fatigue as operators are often required to work long shifts.
Some attempts have been made to reduce the number of accidents in hazardous environments. However, these systems have not adequately accounted for the diverse characteristics and risk scenarios encountered across a mining environment.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome or ameliorate one or more of the disadvantages of the prior art, or to at least provide a useful alternative.
It is an object of the invention in its preferred form to provide a method and system for enhancing the safety of a region in which the relative risk of a situation is determined and an alert reflecting this risk is generated.